Our Drama
by nostalgic rose
Summary: Mikan Sakura is the one of the hottest idols of her time, but when she's paired up with infamous playboy Natsume Hyuuga for a romance drama, what happens? Rated T for Safety.
1. Just Another Monday?

Hello! Yesterday, I made a boredom story (which is a story you make when you are bored), which is called Ruka-pyon is Mine. It's quite random. xD

Anyways, this story was in my mind yesterday, and since I am bored today (it's a repeating pattern :P), I decided to write the first chapter.

Enjoy, I hope you like it ;)

Note: Mikan uses the Japanese phrase _Hajimemashite, _which means 'Pleased to meet you'. Sometimes, Mikan will use Japanese phrases to show respect and formality to others.

* * *

It was simply another day for teen idol Mikan Sakura. She had just finished a photo shoot for her own spread for Innocence weekly, Japan's hottest fashion magazine. Just posing in front of flashing lights could make anyone tired, but Mikan was still filled with energy, much to the dismay of her pokerfaced friend Hotaru Imai.

"Hotaru, it was so much fun! I got to wear these cute skirts and jangly bracelets! People were saying how it suited me! I got to keep the clothes too!" Mikan chattered excitedly on their way to their shared condo. Hotaru sighed and jabbed the key in the keyhole and opened up their condo door.

"Mikan, shut up. Aren't you tired?"

"Nope!" Mikan replied cheerfully, still full of liveliness. "Hotaru, it's so much fun being an idol!"

"I get it." Hotaru said blankly, opening up the fridge to get something to eat. It was another day for her too, she managed to finish the new version for her bestselling spy kit, and earned another load of yen. Yes, just another day for a world-class inventor.

Then, Mikan phone rang. She flipped it opened without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello."

"Sakura-san! You won't believe who called!"

"Saito-san?" Mikan said. Her agent hardly ever called her after her idol time was done. "Who called?"

Hotaru was watching from the kitchen, eating some melon-pan with the most detached face.

"White Wind Media!" Saito yelled. Mikan actually flinched and held the phone away from her for a while and then returned it back to her ear.

"What about White Wind?"

"Sakura-san! White Wind Media is one of the biggest producers of teen dramas! They want _you _to star in their latest romance drama! Guess who you're starring alongside with." Saito didn't wait for Mikan to even guess, not that she would even have a clue "None other than the biggest male idol _Natsume Hyuuga!"_

Mikan's jaw dropped. _Natsume Hyuuga! _He was the _leading male idol _out there. Girls and boys alike idolized him. He was the hottest thing out there, and whoever knew his name was a fan, no doubt about it.

"...So, they said to meet with them on Monday at one of their studio. I said 'Yes! Sakura-san would love to do this!" Saito chattered while Mikan took the time to let the information sink.

"Of course! Tell them I'm there!" Mikan said hastily. She was definitely excited. A romance drama with Natsume Hyuuga was a _huge _opportunity.

"Okay!" and with that, Saito hung out, too excited to muster a simple 'Bye'.

Mikan started jumping excitedly and squealing until Hotaru whipped out her infamous baka gun and shot her at full force. Mikan fell over and onto the couch.

"Idiot. I could hear Saito from the kitchen."

Mikan stood up on the couch, which Hotaru strictly told her never to do. She was beaming proudly.

"I'm starring in a drama! A drama!" Mikan echoed, jumping on the couch.

"Yeah, with Natsume Hyuuga."

Mikan was still registering that thought, but she was still thrilled.

"I know." She said, taking one last jump and sitting down immediately.

"You do know he has a playboy reputation, right?"

Mikan looked at her knees. She knew this fact, but it really didn't bother her until now. What if Natsume flirted with her constantly? Would filming scenes be too difficult?

"What....if he's just _misunderstood? _What if he's just looking for _the one..." _

Bam! Another blast of air shot Mikan. Mikan fell back, with her head on a pillow.

"HOTARU!!!"

"You are too stupid, Mikan. There's nothing about being _misunderstood. _Playboys are playboys.

And on Monday, I'm coming with you. You're not smart enough to handle this."

And with that, Hotaru turned around and started preparing dinner, leaving Mikan to sigh and close her eyes, pondering over this thought.

**_xOxO_**

When Monday rolled around, Saito and Mikan were extremely excited. Saito more than Mikan though, because he could hardly contain himself in the car, so when they arrived at the studio, he started singing and skipping around the parking lot until Hotaru shot him with her baka gun and asked him to 'act his age' and 'open the door'.

When Mikan opened the door, the bustling atmosphere suddenly stopped and somebody yelled "Mikan Sakura's here!". Mikan blushed furiously when somebody said this, because she believed she should be treated equally like she was someone who wasn't an idol. But that was virtually impossible. This _was _Mikan Sakura.

"Mikan-chan, if I may call you that, welcome to White Wind."

"Leon! _Hajimemashite! _You can call me Mikan-chan._" _Mikan greeted. Leon Tivoli, a half-Japanese, half-Italian producers was famous in the area for creating enthralling dramas for all ages. He was exceedingly thrilled to work with two of the most famous idols who haven't even met each other. Leon was certain that this would be one of his biggest hits.

"When I received the script, you popped into my mind."

"I'm honoured!" Mikan cried, grinning her trademark smile. Leon smiled, nodding and gestured towards the left.

"Natsume-kun and his 'lil friend are there. Why don't you meet him?"

Mikan's hands started getting clammy. She reminded herself that Hotaru was there. Hotaru would _always _be there. She _promised. _Mikan nodded, smiling and walked towards the left.

And there he was. None other than the famous Natsume Hyuuga, Japan's teen playboy, who dated countless girls and dumped them about a week later.

He didn't notice Mikan and Hotaru at first. Mikan was too nervous to say anything, not even her cheery _'_Hi!'.

"Natsume..." a blonde boy with shining blue eyes whispered, with a rabbit in his arms. Natsume turned around and looked at Mikan, face to face.

He had striking crimson eyes and the darkest shade for his hair. Raven-black, they called it. Those features simply _stood out _from everything else. Mikan found herself getting hotter. She swallowed and tried to snap out of it.

"H-hi! I'm Mikan Sakura, and I'm really excited to work with you!" she managed to say. Hotaru stared at Natsume and the blond boy as Mikan said this.

At first, Natsume didn't say a thing. His friend attempted to say something, but Natsume beat him to it.

"Wow. I didn't think you were _that_ ugly."

Mikan's blood literally _froze _right there. Her jaw dropped and Hotaru fought the urge to shoot her for the umpteenth time.

"How dare you say that! We're going to be working together! I am _not _ugly!" Mikan cried, ranting on and on. Hotaru groaned.

Natsume's friend tried to salvage the awkward moment.

"Um...hi, Sakura-san. I'm Ruka Nogi, but call me Ruka." He said uneasily, reaching out his hand. Mikan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

_He seems _much _nicer than his friend. _Mikan thought.

"_Hajimemashite, _Ruka. This is my friend Hotaru Imai." Mikan introduced, ignoring Natsume.

"Hi." Hotaru said blankly. Ruka feigned a smile and stepped back.

"Tobita, fix that, okay? Ah, I see you four are finished getting acquainted-" Mikan glared at Natsume when Leon said that. She already disliked him. "I have the scripts here, and some of your co-stars are here. Natsume, go practice with Kusayama-sama and Maria-sama. Mikan, Hisakata-chan is waiting for you in her dressing room."

The two answered 'Okay' without looking at each other, but secretly Mikan glared at him with the corner of her eye.

"Imai-chan and Nogi-san, you can wait somewhere, or eat some sweets at the table. Got it?"

The other two nodded and waved to their friends, walking away. Leon sighed contently and walked away, ordering around other people.

Before leaving, Mikan turned to Natsume.

"Listen, I know you think you're the best, but how about both of us pretend that we're at least getting a long so we can make a great drama and make Leon happy, okay?"

Natsume looked at Mikan. She was _too _cheerful and she was annoying. He didn't know how he would even _survive. _

"Whatever." He said, and walked away. Mikan's blood was boiling at this point, but she closed her eyes and exhaled, walking towards Hisakata's dressing room.

**_xOxO_**

The drama was about two lovers who loved each other deeply, but the boy's parents arranged an engagement to enhance their company's business. The boy was trying to persuade his parents to break off the marriage, and the girl was trying to cope with her father's recent death. Mikan thought this was pure genius and extremely romantic.

"Isn't this passionate, Hisakata-chan?" she asked her co-star.

"Yeah, it is." Hisakata answered, smiling. She was a calm and kind girl with long ash blonde hair with grey eyes to match. She was excited to be working in the drama too, as she was still fresh and new to the idol world.

"Okay, okay, let's practice."

"Mmm hmm."

Hisakata took a deep breath and took one glance at the script and looked at Mikan.

"_Rika-san, why are you with Hiroshi when you know that it's difficult for you to simply love?"_

"_I don't know...it is hard, but...I guess love is always difficult."_

Hisakata glanced at her script and looked up at Mikan.

"_Well, I can't hold you back. I know you love Hiroshi too much..."_

Hisakata smiled tenderly, according to the script.

"_I hope this isn't a mistake."_

"_You know it's not when you feel this way."_

Mikan and Hisakata smiled and sighed. Suddenly, they started giggling.

"Imagine life like that!"

Mikan giggled and nodded "If only!". She loved the script and could imagine her own life being a tragic fairytale of love and despair. She pondered over the thought and for _some strange reason, _Natsume was in the story. Mikan shook her head intensely , trying to erase his image.

**_xOxO_**

"Oi, Ruka, throw me a bottle."

Ruka Nogi tossed a chilled water bottle at Natsume after he finished running lines with the other actors and actresses. Natsume grabbed the bottle and twisted the cap open and savouring the chilly liquid.

"That was good, Natsume."

"Thanks." He said nonchalantly as if he didn't care.

"Hey, Natsume..." Ruka gathered up his courage to ask a question that was haunting him since this morning. "Why were so harsh with Sakura-san? I mean, she seems really nice and eager."

Natsume twisted the cap back on and looked at Ruka. He just _knew _Ruka would ask him that question. It was simply a gut feeling. So he already knew his own answer.

"She seems like the person to plaster a smile in every situation. Sometimes you actually have to _react. _Smiling through every agonizing moment won't help you push your emotions out. It pisses me off and I know her personality is like that." Natsume said. He tried to hide his angered and pissed off tone.

Ruka understood what Natsume was getting to. He had a rough past and family problems here and there, and his smile was rare, even on the covers of magazines and photo shoots. Ruka barely saw the smallest smile on Natsume's face, and he was a close childhood friend. But still, how can Natsume just _know _Sakura-san was like that? Was he _that _scarred that he misunderstood people by first impressions?

Ruka bowed his head and refrained from asking anymore questions. He merely stood beside Natsume and waited for anything to come up.

"Did you get those two? Right...ah, Mikan-chan!"

The two best friends pivoted around and saw Mikan and Hisakata walk out from the dressing room corridor. Ruka held his breath and Natsume simply looked at them without a care in the world.

"Mikan-chan, can you practice a scene with Natsume-kun?"

Mikan froze. She completely forgot that she'd have to perform romantic scenes with him! This was going to be hard. She turned towards Hotaru, who was drinking lemonade from the food table. She impatiently waited for Hotaru to come and help her or show _any _sign that signified that she would help her, but Hotaru simply poured herself another cup of lemonade and stared at Mikan, emotionless.

Mikan mentally groaned. Didn't Hotaru say she was going to help her?

"Mikan-chan! Mikan-chan! Natsume-kun is here!" Leon called. Mikan looked at him and forced a smile. She took a quick glance at Hisakata and walked towards Natsume.

"What scene?" Mikan asked coolly.

"Scene 5, paragraph 14."

Mikan and Natsume flipped through their script books and found the scene.

"Okay, you can start." Leon said. Natsume nodded, as he was the one who would start.

"_Rika-chan...My parents...they arranged an engagement between a wealthy girl who is the daughter of another big company. They said it could help our business."_

"_Hiroshi-kun-"_

"_I don't want to do it!" _Natsume said angrily, in character. Mikan was suddenly amazed on how good he was. He really did seem heated.

"_I don't want to do it! They're not considering me at all!"_

"_Hiroshi-kun, I know this is a strain in our relationship but please stay strong."_

"_I'm going to persuade them to cancel it. I can't possibly marry a girl that will simply help our family's business. It's stupid. We're in the 21__st__ century."_

Mikan took a quick glance at the script, where in brackets, said _Rika reaches out and takes Hiroshi's hand. _She tried not to gape. Instead, she forced herself to reach out and take Natsume's hand. Natsume was shocked by the action, but then noticed that it was on the script.

"_Promise me you won't think about this too much."_

Natsume looked deep into Mikan's eyes. _Innocent brown _Natsume thought without noticing it.

Mikan, on the other hand, was thinking about his eye colour too. _Red. Dark red. Like he's always angry. Why? _Mikan thought, still looking at him, as directed _That's it. I'm going to find out why he's always like that._

"_Yes. I promise you."_


	2. A Call from Leon

Here ya goes, people! It's a bit shorter, sorry about that, but I promise the next chapter will be longer! Hopefully I can write the next chapter soon and post it around Friday.

Thanks for the reviews. I'm really happy about them.

Enjoy!

Note (you probably noticed this too): Italics in quotations is acting, italics without quotations is usually thinking.

* * *

After everyone finished holding their breath after Natsume and Mikan finished the scene, Leon went up and started talking to some of the stars about their plans.

"Mikan, that was _incredible! _I am SO privileged to have you in my drama."

Mikan blushed "Thanks."

"Natsume, it's true what they say about you. You're really-"

"Hey, we're finished here, aren't we?" Natsume interjected.

"Yeah, it's just a-"

"Ruka, let's go." Natsume said. Ruka bowed his head and followed suit with Natsume and outside the studio. Mikan watched with dislike and turned to Leon, hoping he would at _least _do something.

"Well, I've heard that from a couple of directors. They say he's a bit moody." Leon commented, laughing. "Hopefully, he's not like that when it's time to film."

"Hmm." Mikan mumbled, looking at the studio doors. As she was concentrating on why Natsume seemed so incensed, somebody tapped on her shoulder. She turned around to see Hotaru.

"Hey, Saito says it's time to go." She drawled. Mikan muttered something and turned back to Leon and parted ways with him.

"Byee, Mikan-chan! Remember the script!"

"Yup!" Mikan called, shrugging on her sweater from the other side of the room. Hotaru sighed and opened the door for Mikan and Saito, as they were too ignorant to open it themselves.

_**xOxO**_

"_Ah! I'm so confused. Papa is dead and Hiroshi-kun is having a terrible time." _Mikan buried her face in her hands and exhaled harshly "_Why? Why is it like this? Was Hana right? Is it really a mistake?"_

Mikan looked up right after and grinned lively at Hotaru, who was sitting on a chair and watching her.

"Did I do well?"

Hotaru stared at Mikan for a while, which made Mikan very impatient.

"Yes, for a play that portrays girls as hopeless romantics, you did well." she finally said, in a quiet and serious voice.

Mikan frowned thoughtfully. "I bet you have that hopelessness in you too, Hotaru! Like...you were hanging out with Ruka-pyon! Don't you think he's cute?"

"I didn't hang out with him. He was watching Natsume. I was eating."

"Huh." Mikan said, grinning playfully. "Anyways! We're going to be filming soon. I can't wait!" _Even though Natsume will be there..._

"Well, I'm not going to be there to take care of you all the time-"

"HOTARU! You barely _'_took care of me' yesterday!"

"Hmm." Hotaru muttered, flipping through one of her notebooks. Mikan frowned and wished she had her own baka gun, but Hotaru locked all of her inventions somewhere.

Suddenly, the home phone rang. Mikan, who was right beside the table, grabbed the phone, thinking it was probably her Grampa or even Saito with some news. It was a surprise when Leon Tivoli's voice came.

"Hey, Mikan-chan!"

"Leon? What's up?"

"I just wanted to say, Mikan-chan, I know it just _has _to be nerve-wracking to be working with Natsume-kun!"

"Well..." Mikan stretched the word to prevent her from telling Leon her true thoughts. What if he felt so guilty that he cancelled the drama altogether? She'd hate to be the blame of someone's disappointment.

"Anyways, Mikan-chan, the chemistry between you was incredible!" Leon cried. Mikan blushed and leaned against the island.

"Ha ha..." she murmured.

"But!" Leon interjected loudly "I think we need more. It has to be so realistic that the audience can relate to the drama in any way. Something that can touch the soul."

"The soul?" Mikan asked. _Producers have weird perspectives. _Mikan thought, even though she thought Leon was definitely right about it.

"Yeah, me and Director-sama agree that we think we can heighten the chemistry if you to spend more time together. Like a date."

"A WHAT?!" Mikan shrieked. Hotaru grimaced from the living room.

"Is tomorrow okay? Because filming is starting soon...."

"A WHAT?!" Mikan repeated.

"So it's okay, right? Okay, Mikan, thanks for your cooperation. I'm going to call Natsume-kun now. Thanks again, Mikan-chan! Bai bai!" and with that, Leon hung up, leaving Mikan to stare at the cordless phone.

"A WHAT?!"

_~**xOxO **_~

Mikan lay on her bed in her room, with stuffed hanari tofu on her face. She groaned and rolled over to her side.

_I can't believe Leon would go to such measures! We're both good actors and yet, he wants us to go on a date! A DATE! A DATE! I should be the luckiest girl, to be with Natsume, but he said I'm ugly and he MEANT it. I just _can't _go._

"You're being too hasty."

Mikan pushed the stuffed animal (A/N-or food?) out of her face and saw Hotaru at her door, with a takeout box in her hands.

"What?"

"I said, you're being too hasty. You're freaking out. It's annoying." Hotaru repeated, sitting at the edge of Mikan's bed and eating noodles from the box.

"Hotaru..."

"Remember when you became an idol? I recall you saying, in these exact words," Hotaru dropped her wooden chopsticks and cleared her throat "'_I'll do anything for my idol jobs, whether it pains me or not. I'll take any opportunity and do anything, as long as I see someone smiling at my work."_

Mikan groaned and rolled to the other side, facing away from Hotaru.

_My own words against me. How low. _

Mikan squeezed her eyes shut and thought about it. It would help a lot in the film and, who knows? Maybe Natsume was just _nervous _and he simply said something mean to put it off. Who _knew? _It would also help Mikan find out why Natsume's eyes were filled with resentment. It wasn't just the colour, it was the aura surrounding the eye.

_It makes sense. _Mikan thought.

"Okay. I'll do it."


	3. 3 Hours Back and 2 Hours Wasted

Thanks for the reviews. Each of them helped me write this chapter :D

Oh, and I probably won't be able to update that soon, so you guys might have to wait until Monday or Tuesday (depending on whether I can write the next part, or depending on your time zone :P)

Enjoy

* * *

Mikan yawned heavily and walked out of her bedroom and into the living room ,where Hotaru was drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee.

"_Ohayo, _Hotaru!" Mikan said cheerfully, swinging the fridge door open and grabbing the carton of orange juice "Y'know, I had the _weirdest _dream last night. I was going to go on a date with Natsume!" she said, laughing before she took a swig of juice from her cup.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "That's not a dream."

Mikan slightly choked on her orange juice (A/N- Aren't I cliché!) "Damn it, Hotaru! Couldn't you play around for just _once?"_

"Pretending reality is a fantasy is one of the stupidest things I've heard. Another stupid thing I've heard is you being _smart." _

"HOTARU!"

"It's true." She said apathetically, taking another sip of her coffee. "By the way, Leon called. He said '_Imai-san, tell Mikan-chan that Natsume-kun will meet her at 3 at Eighty-Fourth street. You can go out for lunch or a cafe, just get the chemistry going, 'kay?'" _Hotaru mimicked, in Leon's somewhat accented voice. Mikan noticed that Hotaru was good at impressions, even the one's with emotions, unlike herself.

"No way!!! I've got...." Mikan glanced at the clock and counted with her fingers "Six hours to get ready. _Six frickin hours!!!"_

"Getting ready for an award show take less time than that." Hotaru commented.

"But...but..." Mikan struggled with her words "Uh...I bet ya Natsume is used to prepped up girls with lots of glamorous things on them."

"How stereotypical."

"I HAVE TO GET READY!" Mikan shrieked, running down the hallway and slamming her door loudly. Hotaru rolled her eyes and looked up at the clock.

"Shit, the time's wrong." Hotaru muttered under her breath, but sat there, writing in her notebook with a cup of coffee in her hand.

**_xOxO_**

Mikan, unaware of the time difference, threw all her decent clothes on her bed and stared at them attentively.

"Okay...something cutesy but not babyish." Mikan mumbled. She picked up a frilly black shirt and skinny jeans and slipped them on hastily (A/N- Okay, I know it's kinda difficult to imagine Mikan, **_Mikan, _**in skinny jeans, but bear with me. :P). She turned around in her mirror and groaned.

"Too...showy..." she commented. She took them off, annoyed.

And that's when the cycle of clothes-trying began.

**_xOxO_**

Hotaru was tinkering with a new invention until she glanced over at her laptop to check the time. The clock was definitely wrong, it said the time was nine in the morning, but it was actually eleven. Mikan had been trying on clothes for two hours. Hotaru figured to was time to inform her oblivious friend before she started yelling at her.

Hotaru walked down the dim hallway and rapped on Mikan door, where she could hear things crashing and a bit of cursing.

"Oh-PEN!" Mikan cried from the other end, obviously irritated. Hotaru pushed the door open, shoving a few clothes in front of the door out of the way.

The room was simply a _mess. _Sure, Hotaru's lab was sometimes the sight of disaster, but this was _different. _It was clothing **_hell._**

"Does this look good?" Mikan asked anxiously, twirling in her outfit. It was a white blouse with a white jean jacket hanging from her shoulders, and denim capris as her bottoms. Mikan's face was full of apprehension.

"I don't care." Hotaru said bluntly "I just wanted to tell you, it's one o'clock, not eleven. The clock was three hours back."

Mikan's shriek was so ear-splitting I can't even write it down.

"HELL NO!!! HOTARU, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

Hotaru shrugged "Dunno." She said (A/N- lolz, Hotaru is so blank.).

"Omigod, omigod, omigod..." Mikan muttered, over and over. She threw clothes over her shoulder and dug through the pile of clothing.

Hotaru took the chance to _slowly _back away and get back to her inventing.

**_xOxO_**

After rushing like there was no tomorrow, Mikan finally chose a silk skirt with green and white patterns and a simple, white blouse with frills where the buttons where (A/N- Pardon me, my clothing vocabulary is terrible xD). She was wearing brown ballerina slippers and her hair was tied up in a messy bun, with her slightly curly tendrils hanging from her head. She was sitting on a bench on Eighty-Fourth street with her cell phone in her hands, waiting for Natsume. She texted Hotaru a couple of times, which kind of went like this:

_Mikan- Hotaru, wat should I do?! Is it 2 l8 to back out?_

_Hotaru-Yes. _

_Mikan- HOTARU! Give me more advice! I don't know what to do! He's way past my usual standards._

_Hotaru-You have no standards_

_Mikan- HOTARU!!!! Y r u doing this 2 me?!_

_Hotaru- STFU, you're wasting my mins. _

After that, Mikan stopped texting Hotaru. She just anxiously stared at her cell phone clock.

"God, he's ten minutes late..." she muttered before some overshadowed her.

"Have you ever been on a date before? Don't you know that you're not suppose to arrive right on time?"

Mikan looked up and saw Natsume, crimson-eyed, dark haired Natsume standing there with his hands in his jeans.

Mikan stood up fiercely and glared at him.

"Well, I'm _sorry!" _she said through clenched teeth "Let's just go to the damn place."

The two walked in silence, amazingly undisturbed by any chaotic fangirls or such, until Natsume suddenly talked.

"Polka dots, eh?"

"Huh?" she said, looking at him.

"Your underwear. Polka dots."

Mikan suddenly lost her voice. She strained herself until she found it impossible to utter a word. Mikan carefully inhaled and regained her voice.

"HOW THE _HELL _DID YOU SEE THEM?!" she yelled. Some people looked their way, but Mikan and Natsume, being idols, shielded themselves before anyone could identify them.

"Easy. You stood up so fast that the front of your skirt flipped."

"PERVERT! PERVERT! PERVERT!" Mikan chanted angrily, poking his arm repeatedly. Natsume slapped her hand away and rolled his eyes.

"_Your_ fault."

"_You_ looked."

Mikan huffed and crossed her arms stubbornly, looking away from Natsume until they reached the Fruit Frenzy, the area's most popular smoothie bar. Once Natsume opened the door, a servant was in front of them immediately.

"Hello, Sakura-sama, Hyuuga-sama, Mr. Tivoli (A/N- Tivoli-sama or Leon-sama sounds weird, so I just used the regular English prefix.) set up a table for you to come here, so the V.I.P .room is right there-"

"Oh no thanks." Mikan interrupted, her beliefs of being treated normal kicking in.

"Never mind her." Natsume said, more like an order. "Yeah, lead us to the V.I.P."

Mikan frowned, but contained her anger until the waiter dropped off their menus and left.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I don't want to be treated like a superior to others."

"We're damn idols, _deal with it." _Natsume snapped. Mikan frowned again, and covered herself with the menu.

_He's not an open book at all. He's so reclusive, yet he's a superstar. It makes no sense. _Mikan thought, not paying attention to ordering anything _But still, I have to find out what's bothering him so much. It's the key to making a great drama. _

"Are you ready to order?" a voice asked. Mikan looked up and saw the same waiter, smiling a bit nervously at them. She hardly remembered to order. Mikan quickly looked at the menu and said the first thing that caught her eye.

"Uh, chocolate milkshake." She said, forcing a smile.

"Hyuuga-sama-"

"Freshly squeezed orange juice, don't make it sweet." He directed. Mikan tried not to giggle at his orders; he sounded like a captain.

"Right. I'll be back soon."

And before three minutes even passed, the orders came. The pair didn't say anything at all during the period. When the drinks came, Mikan stuffed the straw in her mouth and started drinking the milkshake rapidly.

"You didn't even order properly." Natsume suddenly stated, stirring his juice.

"Huh?"

He leaned forward, so close she could practically feel his breathes on her face. Her cheeks were beet red, heating up at each second. She found her heart beating faster at every breath he took.

"You were thinking about me."

Of course, that was _true, _but Mikan wasn't thinking about him in a romantic way. But she said otherwise, because Mikan is just like that.

"No I wasn't." She said, speaking with a straw on the corner of mouth.

"Yes, you were." He said in a deep tone. Mikan tried not to stutter, or even show any sign of embarrassment, but her cheeks were enough evidence.

"You can't deny it." Natsume said, leaning closer and closer.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, but the shakiness in her voice was evident. She started leaning away until...

She fell on the floor.

With chocolate milkshake all over her.

"Ha!" Natsume cried, but that's all he said. He didn't even laugh.

_Damn it! I fell down, my clothes are stained, and I didn't even manage a smile from him. But he was toying with me...why's my heart beating so fast...? _Thoughts were rushing through her mind, but her hand was on her heart, feeling the strong pulses. She groaned and stood up without anyone's help and gave Natsume a death glare you couldn't match.

"Ugh! Perverted jerk!" she cried "Look! At! This!" she enunciated each word with a higher octave than the previous.

Natsume shrugged, emotionless. "Aw well. C'mon, let's get out of here." He said.

Mikan frowned and followed him out of the restaurant, again, trying to shield themselves from anyone who knew who they were. Again, they walked without exchanging words with each other, until Mikan gathered up her courage to talk.

"Where are we going now?"

"To buy you a dress."

"What?"


	4. What Happened Under The Sakura Tree

Sorry for the somewhat late update. Hopefully, I can update every 2-4 days, unless I say something else.

Thanks for all the reviews.

Oops, I forgot about disclaimers....blah.

DISCLAIMER: Seriously, if I owned Gakuen Alice, NATSUME WOULD BE MINE (not really.)

Enjoy.

* * *

Mikan struggled to keep up, as Natsume was fast-walking...well, it was coming to a point where you can consider to running.

"Hey! What did you say about a dress? NATSUME!" she yelled, trying to get his attention. Natsume groaned and made a harsh "Ssshhhh" sound at her. People heads were turning at the sound of his name and at the shrill cry from Mikan's voice.

"Wait, I don't need a dress."

"Oh, hell yes, you need one. Do you think I'll go around with a girl in milkshake-covered clothes?" Natsume said.

"Well-"

"No." Natsume interjected. Mikan groaned, wanting to _end this date right now. _The 'date' was horrible from the start.

Natsume looked around him, glad but surprised that no fangirls/paparazzi tried to interrogate them. He shuddered at the thought of legions of fangirls coming to grill him-no, _them _to be precise- with questions. He simply knew that it would be on covers and covers of magazines.

Not wanting to take a risk and walk any further, Natsume shoved Mikan into a nearby store and blocked the see-through door.

An employee at the counter gasped. She smiled a bit nervously at Mikan and Natsume and rushed to her co-worker at the back, whispering something in her ear.

"Um....is this the place where I'm suppose...to get my dress?" Mikan asked, a bit awkwardly

"Yeah. Just wait."

The employee came back and bowed hurriedly at Natsume and Mikan. Mikan was about to say something until Natsume gave her a glare, which made her shut up.

"Welcome, Sakura-san, Natsume-san. Good thing there's no costumers, thank God, that'll be a frenzy!" she said, laughing at herself in a forced manner. Natsume nodded and Mikan simply stood there, wondering what the worker was babbling about.

She soon found out, because she fiercely locked the door entrance and dropped all the blinds, covering the store windows completely.

"Wait, what are you doing-?"

"You have to shop in convenience and peace, Sakura-san. Please accept this."

"Yes, she does. We're just looking for dresses." Natsume answered for Mikan. Mikan crossed her arms and made a "Hmph!" sound.

"To the far left. Call me when you need anything." She said, and scurried away to the back room.

Mikan stood there, with silence surrounding her. She was never used to shopping at expensive and designer places. Sure, sometimes people gave her clothes like that from her various jobs, but she never bought them at will. She stuck to the simple rule of "Buy it if it fits, looks cute and it's affordable."

"Hey, come here, Polka-dots."

Mikan clenched her fists. _Keep calm. Keep calm._

She walked towards the rack of dresses, all in different shapes and sizes, colours and styles. Mikan's eyes went all glittery and daintily looked at some dresses, with extra care.

"Did you see one?"

"Um..." Mikan pulled out a strapless brown and white dress that hovered over her knees. She placed it in front of her and waited for Natsume's reaction.

"No way." Natsume said, grabbing the dress from Mikan's hands. "Your flat chest can't hold this up."

Mikan's jaw dropped. She took a deep breath and closed her mouth, trying to find her voice.

"Idiot! Perverted idiot! I'm choosing the dress, 'cause it's for me, right?!" Mikan said, throwing another mini-tantrum. Natsume rolled her eyes and shoved the dress back into the rack.

"No, you aren't, because I'm paying for it." Natsume grabbed a dress from the rack without even looking, and shoved the dress to Mikan.

"Try this." He ordered. Mikan stuck her tongue out and walked to the dressing room. She locked the door (but without yelling "NO, LOOKING!" to Natsume) and took a good look at the dress.

It was a strappy chiffon dress, with a criss-cross patterning (A/N- Not exactly _plaid.) _with yellow, green, blue and pink stripes. It was actually cute. Mikan slipped out of her stained clothes and slipped on the comfy and stylish dress.

She twirled in the mirror before she unlocked the door and presented the dress to Natsume.

_Oh, so she does look a bit attractive. _Natsume thought, without actually saying it.

"Okay, decent enough. " he said instead, grabbing her wrist and asking the cashier to scan the tag on the strap without having her take off the dress. The cashier happily agreed, actually giggling a bit, and after they paid, put Mikan's old clothes in a bag and left the store, all the blinds went up. Mikan sighed.

"I wish they didn't give us special treatment." She muttered, quietly enough so Natsume wouldn't hear her.

"Okay, so now what?" Mikan asked, loudly this time.

"I'm going to buy some ice cream."

"Why do you _always _decide for _us?" _

_**xOxO**_

Afterwards, they went to a local ice cream place close to the park and bought Mikan vanilla soft-serve and walked over to the park. Natsume lead them to a place where no one-except for them-was seen, so their peaceful 'date' could continue peacefully.

"Wow! Sakura blossoms!" Mikan squealed, catching a fluttering Sakura blossom and holding it in her free hand.

"This place is so romantic!" she noted, but quickly regretted (as she clapped her hand over her mouth). She laughed nervously and tried changing the subject, even though Natsume looked like he didn't even care.

"Uh...why didn't you buy some ice cream?" she asked, still feigning the awkward smile.

"I don't eat sweet things." He replied, his back towards Mikan, looking at the other trees.

"But its only vanilla." Mikan said, swiping her finger across the swirl and putting it in her mouth. "It's not that sweet."

"Well, then." Natsume said suddenly, turning around. He grabbed Mikan's cone-while she was still holding it-and licked it quickly, which made Mikan land in another awkward position and also made her blush uncontrollably, until she had the nerve to pull her hand away.

"Hey!"

"You're right, it's not that sweet." He said, emotionless. Mikan looked down at her shoes.

_After all this, he's still didn't smile, laugh or even a listless smirk. And I didn't even learn anything about him, except he's still a perverted playboy. Ugh, why'd I blush? My heart's beating fast again, stupid heart. I can't believe-_

Her continuing thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Natsume suddenly kissed her. Her eyes widened at every heartbeat, and at every heartbeat, it seemed her heart was going to burst out of her body.

_**Natsume was kissing her.**_

_His lips are soft for someone who looks so angry. _Mikan thought, finally closing her eyes. But the kiss didn't last long, it wasn't even something special.

_**Until Mikan realized that was her first non-acting kiss.**_

Natsume ended the kiss by pulling away. His face still emotionless. Mikan lost her voice again, but didn't get the chance to even talk.

"There. I hope Leon's happy with the stupid chemistry thing."

And with that Natsume left Mikan.

Speechless, and yes, voiceless.

_**xOxO**_

Mikan could barely walk when she reached her condo building, with yes, a couple of photographers following her until she walked in the building. She still couldn't find her voice and she mentally kicked herself for not having enough guts to even speak.

_He kissed me._

The thought ran across Mikan's mind, while she absentmindedly pushed the wrong floor number in the elevator.

_Right after, he left me._

The other thought registered in Mikan's mind as she realized she pressed the wrong button and started jabbing the right number, again, absentmindedly.

Her heart was still pounding crazily, but the red tint on her cheeks were starting to fade, even though the memory was forever implanted in her brain, refusing to come out.

The elevator door finally opened, after a couple of minutes, which seemed like agonizing hours to Mikan. She walked out and fumbled with the key to her shared extent until the click was heard and she stepped inside. Her head was still spinning; the room seemed distorted. She was still fazed.

"Hi Hotaru." She greeted idly.

"You have new clothes. Looks like somebody got a _bit _too dirty on their first date."

Hotaru's words broke Mikan's faze barrier.

"WAIT, NO!!!!"

* * *

Bet you people didn't see the kiss coming.

I didn't either. xD


	5. Smiles and Stories

I still sorta have writer's block, but I decided to at least finish this chapter :) Sorry if it's not a good as the others; I'm still recovering...  
From now on, I'll usually update my stories **_during the weekend _**unless I have free time. It's not summer anymore, so I can't update every 3-4 days (unless I'm homework free, which is highly IMPOSSIBLE.)

Oh and I made a tiny mistake in the last chapter (or the chapter before that). Hotaru's txt msg said '_STFU you're wasting my mins." _but minutes are for calling...so yeah, tiny mistake.

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

* * *

Today was a very, very dark and cloudy day for Mikan Sakura.

Except in reality, it was sunny beyond belief.

But, in her mind, Mikan's day felt listless and empty.

Even, Hotaru, who usually didn't mind having Mikan stay away from her, noticed this. She decided to come out of her 'office' and knock on Mikan's bedroom door.

"Hey, get out of that fetal position."

Hotaru knew that Mikan was in that position, on her bed, before she even got a good look at the room. Mikan was very predictable...for Hotaru, that is.

"Uh, what?"

"How many freakin' times do I have to repeat myself?" Hotaru said, standing in front of Mikan's bed. "_Stop sitting around."_

"I don't feel so well, though." Mikan mumbled. It wasn't entirely false; it was true, she wasn't feeling very well. Her head was spinning, it seemed like her heart never stopped beating and overall, she was just _confused._

"Why? Did you eat something on your date-"

"_It was him!" _Mikan cried subconsciously. She obviously ignored the fact that Hotaru didn't ask what they _did_ on their 'date' but what they _ate _on their date.

Hotaru arched a brow and stared at Mikan.

"I mean, no. I just ate ice cream." She said quietly. Hotaru didn't understand what Mikan was babbling on and on about. Hotaru Imai is a _genius, _but she needs facts first. Her best friend visibly didn't understand that.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, actually with a hint of a worried tone in her usually blank voice.

"Nothing. Tired. Sick. Confused."

"What?"

"_Nothing." _Mikan said through clenched teeth. At this point, Hotaru was very irritated. She jerked off the comforter that was covering Mikan and threw it with amazing strength across the room. Mikan rolled around abruptly and stared at her best friend.

"Hey!" she yelled.

"Get up. Leon and Saito called three times to remind and urge me to tell you to come over. You know how late you are? _Two whole hours late."_

Mikan stood up with her brown eyes wide.

"Don't kid with me Hotaru. Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Are you _super-uber sure _that the clock isn't-"

"JUST GO TO THE FREAKING STUDIO!" Hotaru _actually _yelled. Mikan clenched her teeth nervously and stared at Hotaru with disbelief. Hotaru glared her down one more time before she grabbed a random t-shirt and scrambled to the washroom.

"Bye Hotaru!" Mikan cried as she made it towards the door with her messed up purse (A/N- lolz)

"_JUST GO!" _Hotaru shrieked. Mikan flinched and slammed the door behind her, running like Hotaru's scary tax collector robot was chasing her.

_**xOxO**_

"_You'll cover for me, right?"_

"_I promise. Just hurry."_

"_Thank you so much."_

"CUT!"

Mikan sighed with relief and reached for her bottle, but someone with a headset (A/N- I forgot what they're called.) grabbed the water bottle first and gave it to her. Mikan feigned a smile and took the bottle, but she was secretly annoyed that everyone was treating her as a queen.

"Lunch break! Great work everybody!" Leon yelled. Mikan was suddenly overcome with guilt. She faced Leon and breathed deeply.

"Sorry for coming late, Leon. I won't do it again, I promise. It was very wrong and I consider myself-"

Mikan was interrupted by Leon's laugh.

"That's okay, Mikan-chan! Just as long as you don't quit, I'll be smiling."

Mikan smiled and bowed quickly before whirling around and sprinting off to her dressing room. But she bumped into a wall.

Or a boy.

"Look much?" a voice came. Mikan's blood froze and her eyes slowly began to face the person. When Natsume Hyuuga's face appeared, her cheeks turned into a light pink colour.

"Ah, um, yes, but, I...um, was...running. So, I, yeah...didn't look." Mikan stammered. Her voice was suddenly fading, just like when she was angry or embarrassed.

"Let's go to lunch."

"Ah?"

"Idiot." Natsume muttered. Mikan put her hands to her hips and tried to say something, but her voice was lost again. Natsume rolled his eyes and started doing gestures.

"_You, Polka dots and me, Natsume." _He pointed to Mikan and himself "Go. To. Lunch. Comprehend?"

"Of course I comprehend-aaahhhh!" Mikan suddenly found herself being dragged by Natsume, with her co-stars watching her curiously.

_**xOxO**_

"Tell me why I'm wearing a wig again?" Natsume opened his mouth to answer but Mikan made a harsh noise to stop him. "I don't need unnecessary hand gestures."

"Because, seeing as the two of us are idols, and both of us are going for lunch, rumours might speculate about us dating or something." Natsume explained, blinking his eyes (A/N- He's wearing contacts. I didn't feel like making Natsume wear glasses or something)

"Um, okay." Mikan answered quietly. "This isn't a date, right?"

"No."

"Oh." She didn't know why, but she felt slightly disappointed.

The pair turned at the corner and Natsume lead Mikan into a cafe called Coco. The two ordered as inconspicuously as they could and sat at a table close to the windows.

"Weemind me why woo invwited me to wunch again?" Mikan asked, with a chewed up sandwich in her mouth. (Translation: Remind me why you invited me to lunch again?)

"I hope you know talking with your mouth full can end up in the "Gross!" section of Chatter magazine, right?"

Mikan swallowed and scowled at Natsume. His snarky comments always annoyed her to no end. She stared him down and continued to look annoyed.

"Frankly, Natsume, I don't give a damn." She muttered.

But Mikan thought about another opportunity. The last outing didn't allow her to get much information about him. All she got was a forever stained dress and a two hour delay in filming. Mikan mentally smiled that she was presented with another chance. Another chance to find out how someone so immensely popular and fortunate like Natsume never smiled during her presence.

"Hey, Natsume."

"What?" he replied, with a straw in his mouth.

"Do you smile?" she asked blatantly. The sound of Natsume sucking the last drops of soda from his can stopped abruptly.

"Why the hell are you asking me that?"

"Curiosity."

"Curiosity killed the cat, genius."

Mikan gritted her teeth. Lady Luck was not helpful today. She tried to push some information from him.

"I've never seen you smile, let alone laugh. The co-stars and I are having loads of fun but you're in the corner skulking without a single hint of excitement on your face. You haven't even fake-smiled. People who tend to not smile even fake-smile to not worry people. You haven't. " Mikan smiled and leaned back on her chair triumphantly.

"Are you saying you're worried about me?"

"No!" Mikan answered back immediately. "I am not. I'm asking. I've never met a person who hasn't smiled while I'm there. Hotaru doesn't smile very often, but she still smiles. Your friend Ruka-pyon smiles a lot. It seems like he's smiling for you."

"Ruka-_pyon?" _Natsume said under his breath. "It's none of your business."

"It is! What's holding you back from not smiling?" Mikan was determined. She did not want to let this off the hook. She slammed her palms on the table and waited.

For some reason-for some _exceedingly strange reason- _Natsume Hyuuga felt compelled to tell Mikan his story. To tell her why he hardly smiled. Natsume was reclusive most of the time, except when it came to Ruka. He just didn't know _why _but he suddenly heard his voice telling his story.

"I was six or seven. I can't remember, but I remember Aoi and I sitting in front of the fireplace. We were unaware of my mother angrily shoving things into her bags and muttering curses while my father was watching her in anxiety."

"'_I can't handle kids. I just can't. It's too much.' _I recall her yelling. My sister and I didn't understand it. I guess we just assumed she was having a bad day; that she was tired and irritated. But it was much more than that. I remember Dad trying to talk to her, but she shunned him at each attempt."

"The next morning, Aoi came running into my room with tears. I woke up and asked her what was happening and why she was crying."

"'_Mama said I'm useless. She said I'm trouble. Nii-chan, I don't know what's wrong. Am I useless? Am I?" _She spoke with choked tears. I really couldn't understand her, but I gradually came to patch the words together. I told Aoi to sit on my bed while I peeked into our mom's bedroom."

"_Yumi, we have two children. They're barely past the infant age. Give them a chance.' _Dad was pleading Mom not to go. But Mom kept throwing anything that looked like it belonged to her in bags. She yelled at Dad that she didn't like being tied down; that she was still young and didn't need to take care of kids. Dad was raising his voice. Mom yelled back. It went back and forth. I saw all of this when I was young."

"I remember Aoi suddenly running down the hallway and clinging onto my leg. Mom stormed out of the bedroom and glared at us. Aoi broke down in tears again. It's kind of blurry, but I think Mom said that she didn't need cry babies at her age. Dad ran after her, still begging and pleading. I lead Aoi to my room and let her sleep for the night in my bed."

"I didn't sleep that night. Aoi did for sure, because I told her that it would be like nothing happened tomorrow, but the next day she remembered every single detail. Dad tried to comfort us and tell us that everything would be alright and we would all be there for each other, but it was hard. I loved my mom, even though she didn't return the feeling. Now, she left us. The happiness that was barely there was...sucked right out of me."

Mikan choked back her tears after Natsume finished his story. It was a sad story. It was so palpable why he didn't smile. But Mikan still thought that he should be able to manage a smile once in a while, even a smirk.

"What...happened to your mom?" she asked timidly.

"I saw her one day." He answered back almost immediately. It surprised Mikan. "Last year. She was across the street at Downtown. She was carrying a little boy in one arm and holding a girl's hand in the other. She was grinning and laughing. There was a man beside her, holding the girl's other hand. She didn't notice me at all. I watched her all the while."

"Oh." Was all she could manage. What else could you say?

"Are you happy now?" he asked a bit angrily. "I told you why I don't smile, and why I refuse to forever more."

Mikan didn't lose her voice this time. She frowned at him and tried to answer back cynically.

"Yeah, I'm happy. I know why you've been such a pervert now. It's because you have no one to teach you how to respect a woman."

The sign of an apocalypse came. Natsume chuckled and _smiled/smirked _at the _same time. _

Mikan's eyes shone brightly and she stood up so quickly that her chair hit the window.

"You smiled! You smiled!" she yelled accusingly.

Natsume's smirk turned into a small and almost invisible smile, but Mikan still saw it.

Something was different. About Mikan. She was much more different than the other girls.


	6. Lucky Clover?

Really short chapter that has a somewhat cliffhanger that'll leave you hanging until the next time I update.  
Ha ha ha...(I dunno if the cliffy is good though...)

Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing here if I owned Gakuen Alice right? I do not own G.A.

* * *

"Stop it." Hotaru ordered calmly.

"I CAN'T HELP IT HOTARU!! A ROMANTIC SCENE IS COMING UP NEXT!" Mikan yelled, violently shaking her best friend's shoulders.

Unfortunately, Mikan's grip was too tight for Hotaru to whip out her baka gun from thin air. She had to resort to the old fashion way...

"OWWIE!"

Hotaru kicked Mikan in the shin. Mikan rocked back and forth on the ground with both hands on her right kneecap and waterfall tears creating a puddle on the ground.

"You're really mean, Hotaru." She whined.

"No, you're over-exaggerating. It's just the kiss scene. You should have expected that in a _romance drama." _Hotaru's voice heightened when she said the last two words.

Mikan pouted and buried her face behind her legs. It's not like she hasn't kissed Natsume before...I mean, _he _kissed _her _last time, to Mikan's dismay.

_But his lips were soft...Ugh..._ Mikan's hands moved to her stomach _Butterflies? No way..._

Hotaru watched her friend, who was apparently in her own world. Her eyes travelled to Natsume Hyuuga and his bunny-boy friend Ruka Nogi, who were across the room.

_I wonder why I feel weird _Mikan pondered. Even thinking about him made her heart skip a beat and her stomach fill with butterflies. Maybe Mikan was...

"Aizawa-san...?"

Mikan's head snapped back up and Hotaru eyes robotically moved from Natsume and Ruka's place to the back entrance, where two men were talking with a familiar girl.

Mikan's eyes grew big and she got up to her feet and accidently pushed one of the men by the girl's side and started to bow like crazy.

"_Hajimemashite, _Clover Aizawa!"

**_xOxO_**

"Oh crap."

Ruka took little steps until he was right beside Natsume, whose back was facing him as he was looking for something at the food table.

"What?" Natsume asked irritably.

Ruka nudged him and looked towards a blonde girl at the entrance who Mikan was bowing to at a fast rate. Natsume's eyes actually grew big. He took two steps back and pinched Ruka's shirt, therefore pulling him back too. The two watched in surprise as Mikan stopped bowing and Hotaru stood behind him and the blonde girl chatted with her with a blinding smile.

"Clover's back."

**_xOxO_**

"You are amazingly amazing, Clover-sama! I love your clothes and stuff!"

The girl giggled and waved her perfectly polished fingernails in the air.

"Aw, it's nice meeting you too, Mikan-chan. Call me Clover-chan, 'kay? We're all the same." She insisted, pushing a strand of her shining blonde hair. Her cute clover-shaped clips held both sides of her short and somewhat boyish hair, but nevertheless, her hair still looked like a favourable gift from God.

While Mikan nodded crazily, Clover tilted to the side and saw Hotaru eating grapes.

"Hotaru-chan, your anti-gravity shoes are a total must-have for any aspiring runner. It totally saves the time of trying to get something out of your soles." Clover praised, with honey dripping from her voice. Hotaru feigned a smile while Mikan waved her arms in the air.

"Hotaru is the bestest girl inventor person thingy in the whole wide world! I am proud to call her my friend!!!"

Mikan continued to ramble on and on about her 'trophy friend' when Clover's amber eyes caught something from afar. Her mouth curved into a smile, not a friendly smile, but a smile of an animal who had just spotted his prey.

"Oh, is that Natsume-kun?"

**_xOxO_**

"She saw us."

"Should we run?"

"No."

**_xOxO_**

Clover started walking towards Natsume, with her heels clicking on the ground at each step. She finally reached Natsume, who has overshadowed in the corner with his best friend tightly at his side. Her smile broke out into a full grin.

"Natsume, long time no see, hmm?" She let her word dangle in the air. Natsume glared at her. Clover inched a step closer, her heels making an echo.

Ruka subconsciously held his breath. He felt invisible, yet he knew it was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

Clover ran a hand down Natsume, her breath on his neck. She still had the crazy grin.

"You never called, you know?"

**_xOxO_**

"...I mean, yeah, sometimes Hotaru can be a meanie but she still is super-awesome except when she gets out her baka gun..." Mikan was still rambling on and on, with her eyes closed and her arms flailing in the air

Hotaru's purple eyes caught Clover in the act. Her eyes burned with brutality. She tapped Mikan on the shoulder. Mikan whirled around towards Hotaru and the inventor tried pointing as discreetly as she could to the corner of the studio.

And at that point, Mikan's hopes came crashing down.

* * *

Oh, so who is this Clover person?


	7. Lucky Star?

I hate math, geography and overall, homework.  
That had nothing to do with the story.

Anyways, I squeezed in some time to work on this chapter (It might not be very good...). I love your reviews, and how you commented that Clover seems like I based her on Luna. Well, I didn't. An image of a girl with short blonde hair and clover-shaped hairclips just popped into my mind. Intentionally, I didn't intend to put her here, or do the cliche 'Revenge of the Ex' but....love has its troubles, right?

I MIGHT do a songfic that connects with this story with the song 'Falling Down' by Selena Gomez. I DON'T KNOW YET. Oh, and later on, I want you guys to decide what dress colour the main (female) characters should wear to the premiere. I can't decide...Gah

Sorry for the long author's note. I usually stick to 'short and sweet' but I guess this time I had a lot to tell.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gakuen Alice, or affiliated with any parties that do.

* * *

Nauseated. Dizzy. Empty.

And most of all, hurt.

Mikan watched Clover blatantly flirt and basically _seduce _Natsume. Natsume's face was unreadable, but Ruka's was. His face looked embarrassed and awkward.

Clover. Clover Aizawa. From all the girls that could've flirted with Natsume, it just _had _to be Clover, a girl Mikan admired and looked up to. A girl who basically a role model to every aspiring junior fashion designer out there.

Mikan just wanted to crawl up in a dark place, but what was worse was the fact she didn't know _why _she was so affected.

"Scene twenty-five!!" Leon cried with his megaphone. Mikan flinched, but stayed still, her eyes fixed on Clover, who had just tugged Natsume towards the snack table.

"Places!" Leon yelled.

Hotaru hated seeing Mikan like this. It seemed rude to shoot a girl she had just met with her baka gun, but her impulse was so strong.

"Ow!"

Mikan toppled and fell face-first onto the floor, her hair slightly wet. Hotaru whipped out a handkerchief and wiped the top of the seemingly new baka gun.

Mikan shot back to her feet and tried her best at a death glare to Hotaru.

"What the heck was that?" she cried, yanking the bowtie to her braid and shaking her hair.

"Aqua baka gun. A new prototype but patent pending." Hotaru explained, popping globs of water into the back of the gun. Mikan frowned and tried drying her hair quickly.

Mikan, who was shot back into reality, still felt stiff. Everything seemed loud around her. Mikan hugged her stomach and she passed by Natsume and Clover.

"I have to go." She heard Natsume mumble. Clover laughed, but it seemed forced and harsh.

"Aw, why? I just came." Mikan heard a crunch coming from Clover's direction.

"_I have a scene to perform." _ He hissed. Mikan saw with the corner of her eye Clover frowning and eating chips from the table.

Her heart skipped more than one beat as Natsume passed by her and went straight to the hairdressers. She slightly turned her head to see Clover leaning on the table with a triumphant and somewhat bold look on her face.

"In ten seconds!" Leon yelled once more. Mikan flinched as her makeup and hair was getting (re)done. Hotaru was in the other dark corner (the one opposite from where Ruka stood before) with a lethal look in her face.

_Please don't let this get out of hand _she silently prayed as Umenomiya put the finishing touches on her cheeks.

"Everybody on set, _now." _Leon urged. Mikan thanked Umenomiya and rushed onto the makeshift balcony. Natsume stood at the bottom of the balcony, looking bored and irritated. Her legs suddenly felt weak and her head felt like Hotaru was taking millions of shots with her (original) baka gun at Mikan.

"Five, four, three, two, _one." _Leon lowered his voice at each number. Mikan took a deep breath and shook herself as the camera started rolling.

Everything was rolling. The studio was at complete silence. Mikan's expression changed fomr pained and perplexed to anxious and worried.

"_Ugh...where is he? He has to hurry up..." _she fake-grumbled, her expression filled with anxiety and restlessness, with paralleled her real thoughts.

"_Rika?" _

Natsume's voice. It sent chills down her spine. Mikan could not ignore him. There were cameras surrounding her at every angle, with the fact she was filming a drama.

"_Rika?" _his voice repeated from the bottom.

Mikan leaned down. She tried her best to show the happiest face.

"_You came!" _she cried, turning towards the staircase. Natsume was climbing up it with a gentle manner, his face composed with no emotion.

"_Did you think I wasn't going to come?" _he asked at the top of the stairs. Mikan blushed for real and nodded.

"_Kind of. You said you've been having trouble with your father."_

Natsume laughed humourlessly, like he would in real life.

"_He can't control me. I just had to come. You said something about having a boring time at your dinner meeting...?"_

Mikan fake-giggled. Natsume inched closer, his shoes echoing against the set. All breathing ceased, and not only on-set.

"_Yeah. Maybe I mentioned it." _She replied softly.

Natsume could feel Mikan's breath on his neck and cheeks. He leaned forward and closed the distance between their lips.

Natsume pulled her closer, unknown whether it was in the script or just by impulse. Mikan snaked her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss until she felt electrified.

Something beeped quietly across the set. The kiss lasted a little longer than expected, as everyone was gawking at the red-hot chemistry between them. A stage manager had to nudge Leon hardly to finally get him to yell;

"Cut!"

Natsume and Mikan slowly pulled apart, glad to come up from the air, but slightly disappointed it ended. Mikan leaned against the balcony for a while and hugged her fluttery stomach. Natsume-without a word-walked down the stairs. Mikan hastily skipped down the steps, trying to get a quick word with him, but was abruptly interrupted by Clover, who gripped him by his arm.

"Natsume-kun, that scene was so sweet!" she gushed, dragging him to a chair. "I wished it was me."

Once again, she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Her breathing stopped. She felt like something wanted to burst out of her body.

Mikan ran.

_Invisible. _She thought as she ran down the hall _That's what I am. An invisible, screwed-up girl with butterflies._

She pushed her dressing room open and flung herself on the chair facing the vanity.

Suddenly, tears started sliding down her cheeks, blurring her vision of everything around her.

"Why am I crying?" Mikan asked aloud, wiping the tears with the back of her hand. "Why do I care?"

**_xOxO_**

"Where's polka dots?" Natsume asked inquiringly, twisting the bottle cap of his water bottle back on.

"Who?" Clover asked suspiciously.

"Nobody." Natsume turned away and wondered where Mikan had gone off too.

**_xOxO_**

"Hey, Imai-san..." Hisakata quietly walked up to Hotaru, who was tinkering her invention.

"Hmm?"

"Did you see Mikan-chan?" she asked, looking around her. Hotaru looked up and noticed her moronic friend was not in sight.

"No. I didn't. But I have a feeling..."

**_xOxO_**

A knock pierced through Mikan's dressing room. She gasped and whirled around.

"Wait!" she cried. She opened the sink and splashed water on her face and dried it with a face towel.

Mikan looked at the mirror and looked at any signs to show that she was crying at one point. She sighed with relief and put on a smile as she cried "Come in!"

Surprisingly, Hisakata and Hotaru strode in. Hisakata's expression was genuine worry, while Hotaru's expression was...well, pissed.

"Mikan-chan, what's wrong?"

Mikan abruptly opened a drawer from the vanity and pulled out some random hairclips. She began shaking her hair and clipping the accessories all over her brown locks.

"Nothing." Mikan assured, giving her a big smile. But the smiled was lacklustre. "Just trying on some hairstyles. Loose or clipped?" she asked, swerving towards the mirror.

"Liar."

A single word escaped Hotaru's mouth. Mikan could feel her whole body covering up with goosebumps. Her face froze, and the vanity mirrored it back. It was written all over Mikan's face. She _was _lying. She was deceiving her own self.

Mikan slowly turned her chair to face them. She bowed her head, avoiding anybodies gaze.

"I...um..." Mikan didn't know where to start.

"Mikan-chan, why'd you run off after the scene?" Hisakata thankfully interrupted her before she started stammering uncontrollably.

"Well,-"

"Don't lie." Hotaru warned. Her voice sounded murderous, but it also urged Mikan to tell them the truth. She needed to spill her thoughts out to someone, or else she was going to burst.

"I dunno...Clover's kind of...bothering me. I-I don't know her relationship with Natsume and I don't know why my head keeps taking a dizzying dip, but all I know is that it's bothering me..."

Hisakata and Hotaru exchanged glances.

"Are you wondering what kind of relationship Clover and Natsume are in-?" Hotaru pried.

"Um...I guess." Mikan replied unsurely.

Hisakata, who seemed to be holding her breath, released it with a big exhale. Hotaru extended her arm.

"300 yen, please."

"Aw..." she groaned, fishing out some money from her jean pocket. Mikan looked at the two curiously but didn't bother to ask.

Hisakata crossed her arms and huffed. Hotaru had a triumphant smirk on her face while she counted the money in her palm.

"Hello?" Mikan whispered. Her voice suddenly sounded hoarse.

"Oh, sorry, Mikan-chan." Hisakata apologized. "Back on track now...You haven't heard of Lucky Star?"

"What?"

"Lucky Star. That's what they called Clover and Natsume when they were dating. You don't read tabloid magazines?"

Mikan blushed. "No. I don't like reading those."

Hisakata shrugged. "I understand. Anyways, that's what the magazines and paparazzi called Natsume and Clover. They were the _total _'it' couple. Seriously, though. People thought they were the absolute match-made-in-heaven. A up –and-coming fashion designer and a total playboy was apparently 'big news'" Hisa air quoted the last words. Mikan felt her heart sink. So they _did _have a romantic relationship at one point.

"Go on."

"But then, Clover was offered a four-month trip to America to help spread the word for 'Four-Leaf Clover Industries'. People were happy for Clover, of course, but tabloid magazines were swirling with rumours of them breaking up or having a long distance relationship. I don't think Clover took any of this to mind. I guess she just boarded that plane and left. Even I don't know whether they broke it off or experimented with long distance relationships."

"But I do know that during her third week at America, she was caught lip-locking with an athlete in America. It didn't take long for the news to come over here. It was _all over _the media_. _It's hard to believe you hadn't heard of the scandal."

Mikan frowned thoughtfully. Her head was still dizzy, but her voice had regained its natural sound.

"Well, what happened to Natsume?"

"It's hard to tell...I mean, nobody except Natsume and Clover themselves know what happened before she entered the airport. It was reported that Clover tried contacting Natsume over and over again, but he ignored her and moved on-"

"To Norie Yamada. But that relationship only lasted four days." Hotaru finished. Hisa nodded with a stifled giggle expression on her face.

"But then..." the question lodged into Mikan's throat. She managed to retrieve it and ask it out loud. "Then why is she back?"

"I think she wants him back," Hotaru paused for effect. "For good."

Hisa leaned forward. "If you're asking me," her voice was hushed and barely audible. "I think it's for the publicity."


	8. Name Calling

SORRY FOR THE LATE-ISH UPDATE!!! I HAD TWO CHAPTERS WRITTEN DOWN BUT I DIDN'T UPLOAD!  
My writing is getting kind of sluggish...aagh, sorry.

Later on in the story, I need you guys to decide what dress and/or dress colour Mikan, Hotaru, Hisa and Sumire (Yes! I put her in this story. Her 'character' for initially suppose to be a random OC, but I said, I need more characters from the story.) will wear. But not yet...

Oh, if you guys have the time, I made my first songfic with the song 'Here We Go Again'. I just heard a part of the song and it inspired. Check it out if you can...it has NxM, RxH, KxS (Koko and Sumire) and TxM (Tsubasa and Misaki)

Disclaimer: One day I shall rule the world. But right now I do not own G.A own or affiliated with any parties that do.

* * *

"Oh God." Sumire Shouda, who played Natsume/Hiroshi's arranged fiancé, whispered. She leaned beside Hotaru with a cup of sweet-smelling hot chocolate in her hand.

The two watched Mikan lifelessly pour herself a cup of ice cold water. She sipped it while the two waited to see if she would jolt back to life. But her pale face stayed the same, her usually bright and energetic amber orbs dead.

"What's eating her up?" Sumire pondered aloud, after taking a sip of the hot mixture. Hotaru shrugged. Before she and Hisa left, Mikan made they swear they wouldn't tell anybody of their little talk.

The dark-haired actress stretched her lips and sighed. She shook her jangly bangles and put her hands on her hips.

"The atmosphere is kind of tense, righ'? " she stated, twirling her bangles. "But, it makes sense, righ'? I mean, after the scandal and all that stuff..."

Hotaru nodded stiffly. Her amethyst eyes followed Mikan as she trudged around the corner and down the corridor to her dressing room.

**_xOxO_**

"Hey, Clover..." Hisa started. Clover, who had come again this morning, was once again watching from the sidelines.

Clover swerved around and grinned.

Fake, fake, fake.

"Um, Clover...where's Hyuuga-san?" she asked nervously. Kusayama and Maria's voices echoed from the set.

Clover looked at her warily, with those olive eyes piercing through Hisa's grey ones. She shrunk in place. Was it a mistake?

_No, it's for a friend. _Hisa urged in her mind, her expression with equal determination.

"Exactly _why _are you asking for Natsume-kun?" she interrogated. The glare went deeper. Hisa kept repeating _It's a good deed, it's a good deed _in her head to prevent her from bailing. Who knew Clover could be...well, obsessive?

"I'm a co-star, Clover." The words escaped from Hisa's lips in a snappy manner. Clover dropped her hand which was on her waist and sighed.

"Yeah, he's...outside, I think, buying something for himself. He'll be back soon. Have you seen Ruka?" She added. The angry aura disappeared.

"Thanks. And I didn't see Nogi-san." Hisa said, with the same fake-grin as Clover. The two exchanged plastic smiles and they parted ways.

**_xOxO_**

"Why the hell are you here?"

Hotaru flung her dressing room door open (even though she wasn't part of the drama; they gave her a room so she can have some peace.) and Ruka was sitting on her swivel chair that changed temperatures depending on her needs. Ruka's face blushed his oh-so-famous blush.

"Sorry. Clover might hunt me down and terrorize me. And I can't go because-"

"You're here for support for Natsume." Hotaru finished. Ruka smiled weakly. He was still sitting in Hotaru's special chair. Hotaru whipped out the baka gun.

"You get to stay if you _step away from the chair." S_he ordered.

"Yes ma'am." Ruka half-joked, sprinting towards the normal chair.

**_xOxO_**

"Ah...Hyuuga-san..."

Natsume whirled around and saw some co-star, whose name escaped, standing across him. He assumed that maybe she wanted a date or something...typical.

"What?" he asked.

"You see-"

"Wait," Natsume interjected. "What's your name again?"

The girl sighed, her shoulders acting with the breath.

"Just call me Hisa..." she mumbled in a bored tone. Natsume registered her name and came to the conclusion; _Oh yeah, she's Rika's best friend, Mihoko._

"Anyways," Hisa started. "Um...well, Mikan-chan seems to be...unlike herself this morning. Sure, her acting isn't affected at all but her overall personality is dead today-"

"What does this have to do with me?"

Hisa felt her skin getting hot. "Well, I was thinking you can maybe _talk to her_ or something..."

"Um, why do I need to?" Natsume asked, suddenly taking out his cell phone and scrolling down his messages. Forty-two messages.

"Hyuuga-san, we've tried everything. Imai-san tried going by herself, but even her inventions were no avail. Sumire-chan tried, not to mention _I tried. _Even Nogi-san tried."

Natsume stopped scrolling. He shoved the phone into his pocket and scanned Hisa's face. Pure, genuine worry. Her grey eyes bored into him.

With the fact, _it was for Mikan. _

_That's true...she has been acting strange lately..._

**_xOxO_**

It haunted her.

Hisa's words and Hotaru's theory haunted her. It never left her mind. Neither of the theories were good news.

Listless. She also felt listless. Mikan can never be depressed, but she can feel lethargic. Their words repeated themselves, over and over and over. It seemed like they didn't want to leave her mind; it was a permanent home for them.

"_I think she wants him back. For good."_

"Ow..."

"_I think it's for the publicity."_

Mikan looked at her face in the mirror. Somebody else was looking back at her. What did three weeks of filming do to her? Make her a hopeless girl who cares about someone who doesn't even return his feelings?

_I am stupid. _

Another knock. The umpteenth knock today, possibly. Everybody had been worried about her. Nobody understood her though.

Mikan didn't answer. Nothing escaped her usually-pink lips.

Another knock, followed by a set of urgent ones. They pounded on Mikan's head.

"Come in." She cried while throwing open a drawer of her vanity. Bending down, she searched for some light makeup to cover up her tired face.

"What's up with you?"

_No._

Mikan stopped looking.

_No, no, no..._

She looked up. The face she hated/loved reflected on the vanity mirror. She didn't dare turn. Instead, she looked at the reflection. It didn't talk (or flirt or insult, for that matter). It was perfect.

"Hello?"

Mikan snapped out of her trance.

"What?" she answered back curtly. Natsume scowled and gripped onto the other chair.

"Um, I don't think _you've _noticed but everybody else has. Who died?"

_My world. Duh._

"What are you talking about?" she flipped open a messy compact and began applying some blush on her cheeks, an attempt to liven up her face.

Natsume groaned. "Well...you're a walking zombie."

"Not true!" Mikan cried, snapping her compact close for effect. "I'm uber happy." Mikan put the tips of my fingers on the corners of her mouth and stretched her lips into a funny smile. Natsume rolled his eyes and slapped her hands.

"Ow..." she rubbed her cheeks and scowled at Natsume.

"Okay, listen, if it's about Clover hanging around..."

Frozen. Mikan felt cold, like she had taken a hot shower and stepped into the blistering winter breeze.

"...Sorry 'bout that. It's pissing me off too; she's clingy. Hopefully she doesn't tamper anything in the drama or the actors. Clover's really stubborn, and trust me, I've tried to tell her to get out."

The frozen layer slightly melted, but there was still no closure. Mikan looked up and looked at Natsume's face. Cold and emotionless. Ever since their lunch a couple of days ago, he still hasn't smiled again. Mikan absolutely _loathed _this. She couldn't tell whether Natsume still had feelings for Clover.

Butterflies. _Again. _She wrapped her arms around her stomach as casually as she could.

"Um...yeah. It's bothering me a little. " she lied. "But she's an awesome fashion designer and idol to me, so I guess I'm fine." Mikan added. But it was also somewhat false. She _used _to be an idol. Now, she simply looked like _plastic._

"Okay..." The single word dangled in the air. Mikan looked up from the floor and locked her eyes with his crimson eyes.

The anger was still there. The fierceness and fire was slowly fading though. His eyes actually looked playful.

Natsume looked at Mikan's amber orbs. They still looked tired and lacklustre, but a small sparkle hid behind this. He hoped-_he really hoped-_ that the sparkle would take over her once shining eyes.

It took a while for their current contact to register in their minds. Mikan furiously looked behind her, her face a deep shade of scarlet. Natsume didn't move at all; as if he was in a trance.

He grabbed the doorknob and stood there awkwardly.

"Well...filming starts again in fifteen minutes, okay Mikan?"

Mikan slowly turned around to face him. His face was once again bored.

"Yeah. I'll come."

"Good." He swung the door open and began walking away.

"Hey, Natsume." Mikan called. He looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"You called me Mikan."


	9. No Such Thing As Perfection

I decided to post this a little early since I'm feeling a little under the weather.

50+ REVIEWS!!!! YAY! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the reviewers and people who put this story on their alerts (_Italics _are the people who put this in their alerts and/or favourited. If you reviewed and favourited and/or put this on alerts then...you know who you are xD)

maxeyn, minahoru, AnimeLovaXD, teh-crazeh-one, missyJuliette, chrisca123456789, ILuvCookiies, lemoncherrylove, Xxdarkness-angelxX, Smile Princess, S-I-L-E-N-C-E IS B-E-A-U-T-Y, moonacre99, AliandBri1, Amuto15, KeiXHikari FTW-, XxAoiHoshixX, zonie'abad, agus-chan, Irischeto

_mangarawks, Natsume H., Aqua Skies, -iza, asian-chick4life, , jazziscool, XxXmystic12XxX, chayoni, javapenny, marshmallow-chan35, The Manga Witch, LynHo, earthtosammy, Blue Poppies, Maricris, Midnite Neko, sapphireangel09, maaike13, makoed, hinicetomeetu, BloodlyCherryBlossom, xmiku, crimson-diamonds-823, MysticSpade, _

WHEW! That took...actually I dunno how long that took but it was worth it! I got to see all the people who added this story! If I missed somebody I am sincerely sorry, but secretly add yourself, 'kay?? xD

Yeah, yeah...On with the story! (It's a bit short. My chapters are getter shorter, sorry.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, or affiliated with any parties that do.  
_(Seriously, my artistic talent is not as good as Higuchi Tachibana's.)_

* * *

Mikan felt like she was in a good mood today. She stretched her arms as she woke up to the bright sun splashing rays of light through her curtains. To accommodate her mood, she chose her one of her favourite outfits; a bright lime green t-shirt with a chibi tangerine face and a pair of faded jeans. She began brushing her hair while humming the latest chart-topper , until something echoed in her mind.

_I think it's for the publicity._

"Shut UP!" Mikan yelled. She slammed her fists onto the desk of the vanity. The vanity shook, causing some stuff to fall down.

Mikan sighed and continued to brush her hair. At each stroke, her newly curled hair bounced like an aftermath.

"Okay, Mikan!" she suddenly yelled, holding her brush to the air. "Today, you'll live your day like it's your last! And that does not mean hiding in a dark hole and crying! It means living without a care in the world! Got it?"

The door flung open and rebounded on the wall.

"Who the _hell _are you talking to?" Hotaru appeared with a cup of coffee in her hand, her voice monotonous.

Mikan grinned and dropped her brush.

"Me, of course! I promised myself that I wouldn't be a zombie today! I promised myself that I wouldn't let anything bother me!"

A small smile appeared on Hotaru's light pink lips.

"That seems reasonable."

"Right!" Mikan yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

**_xOxO_**

Clover crossed her legs as she simultaneously sipped her mocha. She looked outside, the leaves from the trees at the park danced in the wind at a rapid speed. She sighed and took another sip, warming her insides.

"Clover, why haven't you been at the fashion show meeting? You know it's in two months." Her friend Loli asked. She twirled a dark brown strand in between her varnished fingers, anxiously waiting for a response. The quiet bustling of the Sugar & Spice Bakery echoing in the background.

"Didn't I text you?" Clover replied in a matter-of-factly tone. She put down her mocha. "I said I was at White Wind. I was watching Natsume-kun film his new drama."

"Shut up!" Loli cried in surprise. "You mean the one with Mikan Sakura?"

Clover's jaw tightened, her grip on the cardboard cup stiffening.

"Yeah. She's absolutely _brilliantly." _She drawled, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Loli bit her lip and shifted her weight to her other side; Clover's jealous/angry side was a force to be reckoned with.

"But, seriously, _why _are you there?" Loli asked curiously.

"To see Natsume-kun. Duh." Clover said, her voice slightly quieter. "I mean, I haven't seen him for four whole months. Talk about being _male-nourished." _She laughed a forced and bitter laugh.

Loli knew for a fact that Clover was lying. She knew that Natsume broke off the relationship. She knew that Clover boarded the plane out of sheer spite, to try to prove that she was irreplaceable. She knew that Clover's affair with the American soccer player was meant to be splashed on tabloid magazines. She knew that Clover was absolutely horrified when she found out that Natsume had moved on and the paparazzi labelled her a scandalous starlet. Loli knew everything.

Yet the striking brunette bit her tongue, suppressing anything that might accidently slip out. Anything that can make Clover simply _snap._

Loli sighed inwardly and looked at Clover, who was still staring at the leaves doing their autumn dance. She took all her hair and one clasp and moved it to her other shoulder, an act of nervousness she would usually do.

"I-I have to go now, Clover."

Clover's head snapped into place, looking at her partner. Her short blonde locks swished in an angry motion. Even her hair acted with her emotions.

"Okay. And don't worry, Loli," Clover paused for effect, tucking a short strand behind her pierced ear. "I'll come to the next fashion show." She smiled at Loli; the smile that was used for photo shoots and red carpets.

But it was plastic, of course. Perfection cannot be reached even in the media industry.

**_xOxO_**

_Rika stood up, her face blank with no emotion. With a marker in her hand, she managed to faintly X out another day on her calendar._

_She looked out the window. The rain was falling. Falling hard. Her emotions mimicked the weather and tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks. Rika pressed her palms against the window, listening to the pitter-patter of the rain. _

_She waited. Hiroshi was her Prince Charming, her savior. Yet, where was he?_

"CUT!"

The bell rang harshly throughout the outside set. People clapped from the sidelines, causing Mikan to slightly turn pink and do a quick bow. Leon was the loudest clapper, yelling "YAY MISS SUNSHINE!!!"

Mikan hopped down the steps and walked up to Leon. Another perfect scene, contributing to her still-perfect day.

"Aw, Mikan-chan! You did that crying scene with pure perfection!" he complimented. Mikan didn't have difficulty crying. In fact, it was kind of relaxing. She examined her right hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Okay, okay. Everything back to Studio Eight!" Leon yelled. Mikan sighed with content and skipped over to Hotaru, who was eating popsicles from the sidelines.

She hit Mikan in the head playfully with a smile.

"So, how did it feel like crying without guilt?" she asked, with a smile still intact.

"Owwie, Hotaru!" Mikan pouted while holding her head. Hotaru stuck her purple popsicle back in her mouth and walked away.

Mikan looked up at the blue skies and prayed to whoever was looking for the smooth day to continue.

**_xOxO_**

"Looks like Flowers is much more cheerful today." Natsume commented. Ruka nodded in agreement and opened his mouth.

"Sakura-chan looks much more happier...wait, did you just say Flowers? I thought she was Polka Dots."

Natsume smirked and shrugged.

"Things change."

_They certainly do. Thanks, Sakura-chan. _Ruka silently said, smiling privately.

**_xOxO_**

"Hiyas!" A girl with sleek dark blue hopped into the studio, her hair swishing back and forth and covering her face. The people in front of the studio doors gasped and their eyes turned all...sparkly (?). She smiled a cute smile and skipped up to Natsume. She grinned as she stood face to face with him and openly hugged him.

"Natsu-chan!" she cried in a singsong voice.

Mikan dropped her water bottle. So much for a perfect day.


	10. Identity Revealed

I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR SOME TIME!

I had no access to a computer. With internet. And my story file.

If there's any mistakes, sorry, because I really wanted to upload this.

Much love, and enjoy

Oh, and yes, maxeyn, I used your nickname for Natsume xD

Disclaimer: Me & Hotaru would be BFFLs if I owned Gakuen Alice. I do not own G.A or affiliated with any parties that do.

* * *

The water bottle barely made a thud. It just made a hollow sound as it crashed on the floor.

_Another vengeful ex-girlfriend? _Mikan pondered. Uh oh. That feeling was coming, that feeling of utter-

"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked. There was a slight sign of surprise in his face again. He pushed the girl away. She balanced herself and pouted.

"Natsu-chan-"

"Aoi, answer me. And don't call me that." Natsume gave the girl a death glare.

_Aoi._

It was like Hotaru dropped her freaky robots on Mikan's head. _Aoi. _Wasn't that his-

"Oniiiii-chaaaan"

Oh. It _was_ his sister (A/N- You guys were SERIOUSLY DEAD-ON)

"I'm asking you, why are you here?" he asked one more time. Mikan, at this point, felt utterly stupid as she bent down to pick up the bottle. Why was she so paranoid? Natsume was nothing to her. Just a stupid co-star...who kissed her once, off-screen.

No.

He was just a co-star. After this drama ended, they'd probably never see each other again, except for the magazines.

But then, why did she get that feeling in her stomach every time he passed by? Why does her face feel _so damn hot _when he says her name? _Why does she care so much?_

"Onii-chan, it was super boring at home. All Daddy does is paint, paint, paint. He asked me to pose for him three times today. My legs are stiff, see?" the girl broke through Mikan's faze. "So I came here."

"Didn't I tell you not to come over to the studios?" Natsume scolded. Aoi frowned and sighed dramatically.

"Yes, I know. But I wanted to come anyways." She shrugged and looked over at Ruka. "Hey, Ru-chan."

Ruka chuckled and smiled. "Hi, Aoi."

Aoi sighed and twirled around, looking around her surroundings. Her eyes landed on Mikan, and she suddenly shrieked. Aoi clasped her hands together and squealed (A/N- Um, think _Wicked Popular _squeal) and ran up to Mikan.

Mikan's mouth was open. She scanned Aoi's whole figure. Short, raven-coloured hair, like Natsume's. Crimson red eyes, unlike Natsume's, because they were shining excitedly. She had a fairly slender body and rosy cheeks. Her baby pink lips were pulled into a full-on grin, which was aimed straight at Mikan.

"You're Mikan Sakura! I simply _praise _you." Aoi cried, grabbing Mikan's left hand. Mikan smiled awkwardly at Aoi.

"Oh, thanks. That means a lot." And it did. Mikan loved the feeling of people looking up to her as a role model.

"Onii-chan!" Aoi yelled. Natsume turned around to Aoi waving frantically, while still holding Mikan's hand.

"Onii-chan, you are very disloyal. Not once did you tell me to come over to White Wind, and you fully know that I am Mikan Sakura's biggest fan."

"I am not disloyal. I don't want you looking up to some synthetic celebrity, either." Natsume said strictly. Mikan choked on air and gasped.

"_Excuse me?" _Mikan cried, her mouth still agape. "Me? Plastic? I am no different from a person who doesn't star in movies and dramas!" she defended.

"See?" Aoi squeezed Mikan's hand. "That's why I like her. Not like your other bitchy girlfriends."

"Are you referring to a certain one?" Ruka teased. Natsume groaned and took a deep breath.

"Aoi, don't say bitchy. Some were...a bit spoiled and unsympathetic but they didn't reach the status of complete bitch."

Aoi heaved a sigh and started pulling Mikan towards the corridor of dressing rooms.

"Later, Onii-chan!" she called, waving in a princess-like manner. She turned to Mikan and grinned. "Let's do each other's makeup, 'kay?"

_**xOxO**_

"Um...well, I think I'll leave your eyelids neutral, except for some of that glitter. Oh, I think a light rosy pink will look good with those cheeks..."

Mikan was scrambling through the drawer of makeup the studio had provided for her. She didn't have enough experience with makeup, but she was trying her best to please Aoi. But Aoi was completely happy with having her makeup done by her idol already.

"I love this lip gloss!" she squealed, turning her head from side to side while looking at the mirror. Aoi touched her cheeks and giggled, feeling the blush Mikan had applied a little messily. But it did enhance his natural rosy cheeks, making her look cute but sophisticated.

"Well...that's it. That's my best." Mikan smiled a bit awkwardly as she looked at Aoi, who was still posing in front of the mirror.

"This is so cute, Mikan-ne-chan." Aoi complimented, using her new nickname. "Natsume hardly ever lets me look this awesome."

Mikan blinked. Once, twice, and finally a third time.

"Why?" she pried. She leaned casually on the swivel chair, trying to act as if she didn't care.

"Something about not being carried away by vanity." Aoi replied. She opened another drawer and took out a small basket of clips. One by one, she began trying them on.

"He's so strict. He's always checking up on me and making sure I'm fine. I'm okay with that part, but sometimes Natsume is overprotective. Daddy is cool with whatever I'm doing, as long as I'm not jumping off a cliff, but Natsume...Natsume won't even let me attend his premieres. I mean, seriously, when you're the sister of a mega-star, you just _have _to get a taste just once, no?"

Aoi sighed, unclipping a bumblebee clip and clipping on an oddly-shaped flower one.

"But it kind of makes sense. I have a vibe that Natsume is just looking out for me. I guess he doesn't want me sucked into the world of celebrities and gossip. Even if whatever he's doing seems unorthodox and odd, there's always a good intention hidden somewhere. Onii-chan is like that." Aoi giggled at a thought. "It's weird; he doesn't like taking credit for his good deeds."

Mikan froze as she unprofessionally applied the glitter on Aoi's eyelids. Images flashed through her mind of _him. _Aoi's words made its way to her mind and constantly repeated itself.

It kind of made Mikan happy; knowing that he wasn't an uncaring person. She openly smiled, a memory of him saying her name popping into her mind. It made her heart beat faster and her whole body feel hot.

"Waahh!!!" Aoi gasped happily, interrupting Mikan's thoughts. This time, Aoi stood up and twirled around the mirror in front of the door. She giggled and touched her lips, then her eyelids. She sighed contently and turned towards Mikan.

"Mikan-ne-chan, thanks for the makeover."

Mikan smiled a bit sadly. Even Mikan's messy makeup made the girl happy. It made her a little sad that she was shunned away from the smallest signs of materialistic things. An idea suddenly popped into her mind. She grinned and stood up from her chair.

"Hey, Aoi, why don't we change your clothes while we're at it?"

_**xOxO**_

Mikan clasped her hands and squealed.

"There!"

Aoi opened her eyes timidly and looked at the special 360 mirror room. Four sides reflected her new outfit.

A cute argyle sweater stretched over Aoi's top part, with splashes of grey, purple and white all over the cropped sweater. Underneath the sweater was a black racer dress, which looked like a skirt with the sweater. Mikan let Aoi keep her high-tops, but added knee-high socks to the outfit. Mikan also added an overlapping chain necklace. As a finishing touch, she added two rhinestone bracelets, one for each wrist.

Aoi pushed a strand of her dark hair back, her mouth agape. She looked at herself in the mirror and started fingering the bracelet in awe. After that, she turned side to side to examine herself.

A wide grin spread across her shining lips.

"Wow...this is just...wow." She mumbled. Mikan grinned cheerfully and clasped her hands even harder.

"Do you like it?"

"Of course I do!" Aoi cried, flinging towards Mikan and giving her a hug. At first, Mikan was a bit shocked, but then hugged Aoi too. It seemed like nothing was wrong in the world. Helping Aoi was like helping herself heal a bit; to forget about everything that worried her.

"I'm going to show this to Onii-chan!"

Mikan bit her lip, and exhaled. What if Natsume got mad?

"Mikan-ne-chan, I know what you're thinking. But I think he won't explode. He's changed. I don't know how, or why, but there's something different about him now."

_**xOxO**_

"I wonder where those two went off?" Ruka thought aloud. Natsume nodded in agreement as he whipped out her phone and began answering to the messages.

"Yeah...filming start in ten minutes. Aoi might be bothering Polka dots to hell."

"I think they're just having 'girl fun'" Ruka air-quoted the last two words, chuckling a bit. He took a sip of his water bottle, but slightly choked at the sight of something rounding the corner.

"Aoi?!"

Natsume looked up and suddenly saw his sister, in a completely different outfit from before. She had makeup on, her hair was done and her outfit was entirely different than her usual clothes. He clenched his teeth but refused to move.

"Natsu-chan!! Do you like it?" Aoi skipped to his side and pinched the end of her dress and bowed. Ruka laughed nervously and waited for Natsume's response.

Natsume opened his mouth, but Mikan walked up to the three and beat him to it.

" I did this for Aoi. I personally think it's cute. Much cuter than her jeans and peasant blouse." Mikan added, looking straight at Natsume. Amber met crimson. They stared at each other until Natsume shoved his gaze away.

"Didn't I tell you not to favour materialistic things?"

"Yes, you did. This is only once. I just want to have a stylish look for just once, Onii-chan."

"Let her." Mikan piped. Natsume glared her, giving her a _Stay out of this _glare. Mikan shunned it away, unlike her usual self, who would blush and hide in an imaginary corner.

"Listen, Aoi, you might-"

"I know that you're looking out for mean, Onii-chan. I know that there is no bad intention in your actions. But I'm growing up now. I'm almost sixteen. You're letting this get out of hand. I know the thing with mom really scarred you, but don't let the past ruin the future. You're going to ruin it for yourself."

The four stayed silent. Ruka blinked in surprise. Mikan caught her breath, amazed on how the bubbly and cheery Aoi was suddenly stern and serious. Natsume bit his tongue, almost causing it to bleed. Aoi looked Natsume right in the eye, their colours clashing with each other.

"It's true. But I can figure things out myself." Natsume quietly said. Mikan exhaled silently, stealing a side glance at Aoi. Her face was still tranquil and solemn.

"Thanks." She suddenly said. Aoi went over to hug her brother, an action that surprised Ruka and Mikan. Ruka smiled, his face lightened and Mikan choked back her happy tears.

"No more movie moments, 'kay?" Natsume joked. He smiled-_yes, smiled- _as he hugged Aoi. He hasn't smiled for a days since the cafe incident. Ruka's own smile turned into a grin and Mikan's face stayed frozen.

Aoi ended the hug and grinned. She waved to her brother and best friend and took Mikan to a corner of the studio.

"Thanks, Mikan-ne-chan. You really changed him. For the better."

* * *

I'll post Aoi's outfit in the next chapter. Sorry.


End file.
